German Authorities Crack Down On Tax Evasion

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

04 July 2001

The German government has been forced to deploy police squads with sniffer dogs, and order roadside strip searches in an attempt to clamp down on the increasing amount of tax evasion taking place in the country, it was revealed recently. 'Tax evasion has developed into a mass sport in Germany,' said the head of Customs, Werner Eberhardt, despairingly.

It is estimated that over $450 billion of undeclared money is hidden from the German tax authorities, the vast majority of it in Switzerland and Luxembourg, and the frontiers with these two countries are among the most heavily policed in Europe, and set to become more so in the run up to the introduction of the euro in six months' time.

The figures collected by the German police are quite staggering; in one year, over $1.5 billion was physically seized from tax evaders trying to cross the border with their undeclared savings, and in one record day, 30 consignments of money were found. Popular hiding places include glove compartments, hollowed out baguettes, biscuit tins and underwear, and although people react in different ways to their apprehension (according to Herr Eberhardt, one woman attempted to evade capture by throwing herself under the wheels of a car), doing a runner will instantly lose you all of your money. Since the clamp down began, several people have been fined up to 50% of what they were trying to smuggle, several have been sent to prison, and all have been forced to pay the tax due on their contraband savings.

The German Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, has called the state of affairs a national scandal, and has called for patrols to be strengthened in order to prevent German citizens from trying to make deposits with large amounts of marks that will soon be out of circulation. Currently, anyone carrying more than $15,000 of any currency is instantly arrested.

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